Harry Potter and the Truth Behind Love
by bram4eva
Summary: It has been three years since the Battle of Hogwarts and Ginny Weasley is still mourning the loss of her beloved Harry. What happens when she finds out he never really died and he has been hiding from her?
1. Busted

The morning sun poured through the window, highlighting the long red hair splayed over the pillow. Ginny Weasley groaned and rolled over, trying to block out the light. Her head throbbed from the hangover she had from going out the night before. Her best friend Hermione Granger had taken her out for a night of partying to get her mind of her lost love. For the few hours they were out, Hermione's plan had worked but Ginny's sorrows now came crashing back in.

Giving up on trying to get more sleep, Ginny trudged down the stairs into the kitchen. Molly Weasley was already there, cooking breakfast. She turned around when she heard Ginny come in.

"Ginny, you look terrible. You need the hangover potion." she said, trying to smother a laugh. Ginny nodded and sat down at the table to wait while her mother quickly summoned the potion.

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked, while trying to swallow the foul potion as quickly as possible. The effects were almost instantaneous and she felt better, though her head still throbbed a bit.

"I thought she crashed in your room last night. She was pretty drunk last night too and I told her to stay here rather than try and apparate to her flat." Molly replied, confused. Ginny began to laugh.

"I think I know where she might be, mum." she managed to get out in between bursts of laughter. She began to go back upstairs, her mother following her with a bemused look on her face. Stopping outside Ron's room, Ginny turned to her mother and put a finger on her lips. She opened the door quietly and looked in.

"Oh, Merlin!" she muttered as she stood aside to let her mother look in. Ron and Hermione were lying on his small bed, arms and legs entwined. The blanket was mostly over them but from the piles of clothing on the floor, it was evident that they were wearing very little clothing under the blanket.

"Ronald Weasley! Hermione Granger! What on earth do you think you are doing?" Molly screeched from the doorway, waking the sleeping couple.

Ron jumped up, pulling the blanket up with him. Hermione shrieked and pulled the blanket down a bit to cover herself. Ginny couldn't help it; she burst out laughing at the two red faces staring at her and her mother.

"I thought you knew the rules about this! I am going down to the kitchen and I want to see the two of you, fully dressed down there in five minutes!" Molly shouted before storming down the stairs to the kitchen.

"See? You should have crashed in my room last night instead of getting playful with my brother." Ginny teased. It earned her a badly aimed pillow hitting her in the stomach. She ducked out the door and skipped down the stairs. It was a good start to what would have otherwise been a day of moping around the house.

* * *

Ginny was sitting in the kitchen eating her breakfast when Ron and Hermione shuffled into the kitchen, fully dressed and faces as red as a tomato. She was about to burst out laughing when she got a withering look from Hermione so she kept silent.

"Ginny, why don't you get started on the cleaning?" said Molly from her spot by the stove. Ginny understood the tone of her mother's voice meant it was not a question being asked. She quietly put her breakfast dishes in the sink and left the room. As she left, she heard her mother whisper a silencing charm so that no-one outside the kitchen could hear what was being said. It was a sure sign that the shame-faced couple were going to get a very stern telling off.

As she made her way up the stairs, she almost walked into her George who was racing down the stairs as fast as possible.

"Whoa there! If you're headed to the kitchen, you really don't want to go in." she warned him as he raced past.

"Why?" he asked, coming to a stop a few steps down.

"Mum told Hermione to stay over last night when we came home so she didn't accidentally splinch herself when she apparated to her flat. Mum meant for her to stay in my room but, er, that didn't work out very well and Mum caught her and Ron in bed together this morning, needless to say neither was wearing much clothing." she explained, starting to laugh again. George started laughing too.

"You wanna hear what's happening? I've got a new extendable ear that I want to test out." He asked her. She shook her head.

"Mum put a silencing charm over the room." she told him

"This new version doesn't worry about those, you can hear it anyway."

"Alright then. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't allowed to stay. Let's go."

* * *

After Ginny had left the room, Molly told Ron and Hermione to sit at the table. They sat.

"What I want to know is why? Why, after everything I've told you about waiting until you are at least engaged, you would do this. And in my house!" she scolded.

"I'm sorry mum. It just kinda happened." Ron mumbled, staring at the table.

"It just happened!? What do you mean it just happened?" screeched Molly.

"It was my fault, Mrs Weasley. I shouldn't have even gone into his room last night but I wasn't thinking straight. I'm really sorry." Hermione spoke up, her face going even redder.

"Damn right you shouldn't have gone in. You two are going to be severely punished for this. You will not see hide or hair of each other for the next two days and you will both be helping me to clean this house from top to bottom so it's clean in time for the family to come over on the weekend. No magic." Hermione groaned and Ron rolled his eyes. Cleaning with magic was hard enough, now they had to do it without magic. And they weren't allowed to see each other.

Ginny and George were outside the door listening on the extendable ear when they heard the chairs scrape across the floor in the kitchen. They silently apparated into the family room and began to play a game of exploding snap.


	2. Remembering

Later on, when Ginny was helping her mother made the family dinner there was almost silence. The only sound was the occasional thump from Ron or Hermione while they were busy cleaning upstairs. Molly had put a charm on the doors of the rooms they were cleaning to send an alarm to her if wither tried to leave the room.

"Are you okay Ginny?" her mother asked.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Ginny replied, confused

"Because of Ron and Hermione. How happy they are together." Her mother explained.

"I still think about him sometimes, mum. But I know he's not coming back. I just have to accept it and move on."

"Okay then. I just hope you find someone who really loves you." They went back to silently cooking dinner.

* * *

After dinner, Ginny sat on her bed, an album of moving photos open on her lap. It was filled with pictures of her and Harry when they had been dating in her fifth year at Hogwarts. For weeks after the Battle at Hogwarts, she had sat here, day after day, just looking at the pictures, mourning her dead lover.

_"No Harry! You can't. I won't let you!" Ginny cried, trying to grab hold of him._

_"Ginny, I have to. The only way for him to be defeated is for me to die." He told her shaking of her hand._

_"But…" Ginny tried to protest. He suddenly grabbed her and kissed her, hard. Then he let go and ran out the front entrance, leaving Ginny standing, stunned in the entrance hall. That was the last time she saw him. The next few hours were a blur. All she remembered was Voldemort coming into the Great Hall and announcing to the survivors that Harry was dead. She remembered screaming profanities at him and trying to get to him but someone holding her back._

Now that nearly three years had passed, she didn't look at the album nearly as much. Tonight, however, after the talk with her mother she felt like she needed to look at it again. Right at that moment, she was looking at one specific photo of her and Harry.

_The snow was just starting to settle on the ground outside. Ginny was sitting on the floor of the Gryffindor common room, by the fire, laughing at something Harry had just said. The way he looked at her, anyone could tell they were in love. She stopped laughing and their eyes met. He leant forward and kissed her lightly._

_"I love you Ginny." He whispered as he pulled away._

_"I love you Harry." she whispered back._

As Ginny recalled this simple time just relaxing with Harry, she let a tear fall down her cheek. She missed him so much. As she watched, the tear dropped onto the picture and, magically, split to form the shape of a heart as it rolled down the page.

* * *

Molly looked in on her daughter later on that night and found her asleep on her bed, cradling the album of photos she so often looked at to her chest. Smiling slightly, Molly went in and pulled the book out of Ginny's grasp and put it on the table across the room. Then she conjured a blanket and put it over her daughter, whispering good night as she did so. She turned and looked at the book for a moment before going over and picking it up.

As she walked downstairs, Molly slowly looked through the album.

_Ginny ran across the lawn towards a battered Harry. The Golden Trio had just returned from their year of travelling. From the sight of them, it had not been easy. Harry picked up Ginny as she reached him a spun her in a circle before giving her a passionate kiss._

_"I missed you." she murmured._

_"I missed you too." he said, holding her as close as possible._

Molly shook her head. Young love was so easy to get in to but so hard to let go. And what Ginny and Harry had was something special.


	3. Watching

As the sun rose over the Burrow, a young man stood on a hill nearby, watching as the Weasleys began going about their day. The man had long scars across his chest, the most recent one was still bleeding. He was mostly watching a certain red-headed girl as she moved around the kitchen. He murmured her name under his breath. She suddenly looked out the window and he realized he was too close for her to not see him if she looked in his direction. He paused for a few seconds before apparating away.

* * *

Ginny was putting her breakfast dishes in the sink when she looked out the window. She saw a blur of movement to one side but when she turned her head there was nothing. Curiously, she went outside and walked over to where she'd seen the movement. She knew it was probably just a wild animal but something had felt different. As she approached the spot, she felt that feeling again, as though someone was watching her. She sensed magic in the area, a different magic, not any that she was familiar with from being around Hermione or her family. It was a vaguely familiar sense but she couldn't place where she remembered it from.

"Ginny! What are you doing? It's December and you're out there in just your pajamas! You'll catch your death of cold!" her mother called from the kitchen window. Ginny shook her head, trying to get the thought out of her head and went back inside.

* * *

**A/N: I know this chapter's a bit short, it's more of a filler. The next one will be longer, I promise although it may not be put up for a while as it is nearing exam time so that is my main focus.**

**Oh, and thank you for the reviews and follows I've already received on the story, you're inspiring me to keep writing. If you have any ideas on things that should happen, pleas comment them in a review.**


	4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**A/N: I have major writer's block on this story so I'm going to abandon it for now. If anyone has any ideas for it, just post it in the reviews or Private Message me and I'll see what I can do.**


	5. Disaster

**So, the school holidays and the boredom that comes with them has inspired me to start writing this story again, hope you like this chapter. I know it's not really that mysterious but I like it, if you don't like it, don't read it.**

* * *

"Ginny! I swear, if you do that one more time, I'm going to jinx you!" Ron cried, running away from the dripping wet scrubbing brush Ginny was waving at him. She laughed and flicked it at him, causing a few droplets of water to land on him.

"Ginny, please stop annoying your brother. I really want to just have this finished and go to bed." Molly said, the tiredness evident in her voice. Ginny sighed and moved back to the kitchen sink where she was helping her mother wash the dishes. It was nearly three weeks since Hermione had taken her out and she was faring much better since then. Her days were beginning to fill with laughter and fun with her brothers and she wasn't spending nearly as much time thinking about HIM.

"Ron, you're a spoil-sport." Ginny grumbled. Suddenly there was a loud crash and George can stumbling into the room, carrying Hermione. Ron rushed over to them and took his girlfriend from his brother, carrying her into the family room and laying her down on the couch

"What happened? Is she okay?" Ron began to panic and his hands fluttered uselessly over Hermione's unconscious form.

"I was walking down the street with her when all of a sudden she began convulsing and collapsed. I saw a hooded person move in the shadows nearby but they'd apparated before I could see who they were." George said. Molly came running in then, laden with various potion bottles. She waved her wand over the unconscious girl in a complicated pattern and picked up a bottle with a bubbling green liquid inside. She poured a little into Hermione's mouth, making sure it went in before picking everything up and quickly disappearing. The three Weasley children looked at each other in confusion. Their mother never left someone who was injured or attacked to fend for themselves. If she had to leave, she made sure someone else knew exactly what to do before leaving.

"Ron…?"Hermione mumbled slightly after a moment. Ron moved to sit by her head and took hold of her hand.

"Hey, I'm right here." he told her and her eyes opened completely.

"I'm so sorry." she said and began to cry. Ron pulled her onto a hug and then sat there awkwardly as she clung to him, still crying. Ginny and George didn't know whether to laugh at their brother or cry with Hermione.

"Hermione, did you see your attacker?" Ginny asked suddenly. The weeping girl shook her head.

* * *

Once again standing on the hill outside the Burrow, the young man shook his head. He couldn't believe what he'd just done to one of his best friends. But she had seen him in Diagon Alley and he had to make sure she didn't remember. He knew George hadn't recognized him but he knew he had to stop coming here eventually. For a little while longer, he watched intently as they three red haired children, well, young adults really, looked after their friend.

"Master? It's time to leave now. We've been here too long. They will sense your magic soon enough." a harsh whisper sounded behind him and he turned to find his house elf, Kreacher standing a few feet behind him. He sighed dejectedly and began to retreat from the house, taking one last longing look at the house, wishing he could somehow let her know what really happened that day.


End file.
